Keeping out of the public eye is a major challenge for celebrities, politicians and notable people. The Paparazzi love to snoop into the private and personal lives of well known people. Many people deeply resent this intrusion and the incredible pressure it brings.

Guy Sebastian went from relative obscurity to international fame due to winning the first Australian Idol competition. A few months later he was travelling in a car with his uncle and was spotted by people in other vehicles. The attention he drew was embarrassing and intrusive. He slumped out of sight and remained hidden for most of the journey. A man was once approached by a security officer in a store, because he appeared to be heavily disguised. The man turned out to be Michael Jackson, just wanting to go and do what normal people could do freely, but which his popularity made impossible.

While that kind of popularity really cramps a person’s lifestyle, there is another scrutiny of each person’s life that we need to be aware of. God is watching us and our family. In fact, your family is on your personal score card.

Consider these examples from the Bible. When a man was being considered for leadership in the church his wife was to be evaluated. She was to be a submissive wife who did nothing to ruin his reputation. She was to be a sober and reliable woman. The man’s children were to be obedient to him, so it could be said that the man properly ruled his whole household.

The Apostle John also pointed out that it is not what people declare to be true that should be believed, but what you see them do in their family life. If a man says “I love God” but hates his brother the man is a liar. Family life is a more true reference point than the grand statements which people make.

So, don’t think you can leave your family life behind and go off to earn your own fame and reputation independently. That doesn’t work with God. God knows if you are jealous, resentful, spiteful, intolerant, unforgiving, manipulative, contentious or the like. God sees what you do in the privacy of your own home, and He remembers how you were in your childhood family. Your family is a big part of your personal score-card.

I like to put it this way. Your family is like the early childhood lessons of your education. If you fail in these earliest of classes then you never really graduate. All the lessons that you do from then on are compromised by the failures of those early classes.

If you resent your parents, despise your sibling, won’t forgive a family member, compete and dominate in your home, then you have failed the earliest lessons in life. You will go on to do those same things in your work, marriage and future family.

You should have learned to forgive, love, care for others, be generous, suffer loss, trust God no matter what, be at peace with all people, and so on.

Did you fail the earliest grades of life? Have you come out of your childhood with bad responses? If so then you need to go back to those things and put them right. Ask God to forgive you. Put your heart right toward your parents, siblings and extended family.

While your family is on your score-card, it’s a score-card you are able to change. You can put things right and change your personal record, turning ‘F’s into High Distinctions.

How’s your Family Score-Card looking today?